Myles Goertz and Brianne Corn win SCCA titles on the dirt in Iowa
Back on familiar ground at the National Balloon Classic Memorial Balloon Field in Indianola, Iowa, dry weather and a little Saturday sunshine during the Oct. 13-14 weekend created favorable racing conditions for the 2018 DirtFish SCCA RallyCross National Championship participants. Racers were also treated to three distinct courses – two on Saturday and one long course on Sunday. And with grip levels going up and down as competition dried and packed the terrain, the competition was tight – in fact, several races were not decided until late on Sunday.
Prepared Rear-Wheel Drive saw Miatas take the first three positions. A virtual RallyCross rookie when he won the title in 2017, a now much more experienced Myles Goertz ran consistently all weekend with the exception of one cone, coming away with the victory. Second place went to Shawn Roberts who also kept things neat and tidy with no cones, but he didn’t quite have the speed to match Goertz.
Modified Rear-Wheel Drive wasn’t entirely a Mazda affair, with six makes battling for bragging rights. Brianne Corn and Vaughn Micciche were neck-and-neck for two days. By the end of Saturday, it was clear Corn had some serious competition on her hands. She piloted Peter Dozeman’s Miata to a 2.217sec lead over Micciche in his 1987 Porsche 924, but he had one cone whereas Corn had none. Sunday saw Corn up the ante with run margins of 2.463sec, 4.825sec and 0.679sec, in the end taking home another title by 10.184sec.
Since Sam Henry took the first RallyCross title for a Miata in 2011, winning the Prepared Rear-Wheel Drive class, the roadster has become one of the most popular and successful rear-wheel-drive cars in RallyCross competition. In some years, Miatas have swept the rear-wheel-drive classes, and this year’s titles mark the 14th championship for the car. In addition, RallyCross titles have been won in RX-7s and a Mazda 2.
DirtFish SCCA RallyCross National Championships
Indianola, Iowa, Oct. 13-14, 2018
Mazda Winners
Class: Driver; hometown; car
Prepared Rear-Wheel Drive: Myles Goertz; West Des Moines, Iowa; Mazda Miata
Modified Rear-Wheel Drive: Brianne Corn; San Marcos, Texas; Mazda Miata